1. Field of the Invention
The present invention is directed to a vacuum cleaner tool for use in a household, office or light industrial environment for cleaning carpets, floors, walls, and other vertical and horizontal surfaces, draperies, upholstery, etc. and, in particular, to a vacuum cleaner tool which has an opening therein and a swivel mechanism which enables the user to vacuum perpendicular surfaces without changing the orientation of the wand, hose or the like, which couples the tool to the vacuum cleaner. Further, the present invention is directed to a vacuum cleaner tool having an air-powered turbine motor for driving an agitator device, such as a brush, which extends from the housing and, in particular, to a vacuum cleaner tool having an agitator brush extending from the housing in which the housing has a removable wall portion which incorporates an air nozzle for the air turbine and which, when removed, allows access to the turbine and brush for the removal of large particles which may be obstructing the tool.
2. Description of the Prior Art
The use of a vacuum cleaner tool to vacuum steps has been a problem in the past because the step contains two perpendicular surfaces, the horizontal tread portion and the vertical riser portion. When vacuuming steps, an operator holds a vacuum cleaner wand or hose, or other coupling device, which couples the vacuum cleaner to the tool and brings the tool into contact with the surface to be vacuumed. In prior art vacuum cleaners, the coupling device would have to be held in one position for vacuuming the horizontal trend portion and then held in a different position for vacuuming the vertical riser portion.
It has been known in the prior art to provide a swivel mechanism for coupling the tool to a vacuum cleaner wand so that the tool may be rotated with respect to the axis of the wand. Typical examples of such swivel mechanisms can be found in U.S. Pat. Nos. 981,893 and 3,667,084. In the prior art swivel mechanisms of these types, however, the axis of the swivel mechanism is not in alignment with the axis of the wand. In other prior art vacuum cleaner floor tools, such as in U.S. Pat. No. 3,688,339, the opening in the floor tool is oriented at an angle with respect to the axis of the coupling portion of the floor tool. The angle of orientation is, however, very small and the floor tool is fixed and does not rotate with respect to the wand or hose.
Other types of vacuum cleaner floor tools, such as that disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 2,844,841 have rotatable floor contact portions for the purpose of altering the floor contact surface for vacuuming either carpet or hard floors. However, floor tools of this type do not have any provision for the rotation of the floor tool itself to permit the vacuuming of vertical and horizontal surfaces without reorienting the position of the wand.
Other examples of prior art vacuum cleaner tools are shown in U.S. design Pat. Nos. 187,129 and 220,970.
Another problem frequently encountered in prior art vacuum cleaner tools having air-powered turbine motors is that the tool often picks up large articles, such as hairpins, pieces of paper, etc. which become caught in the tool and obstruct the flow of air therethrough. Prior art floor tools, such as those shown in U.S. Pat. No. 3,005,224 and 3,044,100, for example, provide small access holes into the floor tool for the removal of such large articles. However, in floor tools of this type, the size of the access hole is very often insufficient to provide for the quick and easy removal of the obstructing article.
In prior art vacuum cleaner tools, incorporating an agitator brush and a drive means for driving the agitator brush, it is known to mount the motor driving the brush within the tool housing and then to place the drive pulley and belt which couple the motor to the brush within a separate compartment within the housing. Placing the pulley and belt in a separate compartment prevents dirt which is picked up by the floor tool from coming into contact with the pulley and belt, thereby causing damage or decreasing the efficiency of the drive mechanism. However, in those tools disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 1,449,003; 2,584,495; 2,648,868; 2,962,748; 2,963,270 and 3,916,476, no air seal is provided between the compartment containing the pulley and drive belt and the portion of the housing which contains the drive motor. Thus, when the floor tool is in operation, air will be drawn from the pulley and belt compartment into the main stream of flow through the motor compartment, thereby creating turbulence in the main stream of flow. This results in a reduction in the efficiency of the floor tool and the generation of noise.